Biden puts Pacific strategy at centre of US concerns

Joe Biden has given the clearest possible signal that the US remains committed to our region and will work for stability in the face of unpredictability from China. Anthony Albanese has said the right things but must now demonstrate his government is up to the task of delivering. In a joint statement and in meetings with the Prime Minister, Mr Biden could not have been more forthright in the value he places on the US-Australia relationship. He said he believed with “every fibre of his being” that the alliance was “an anchor to peace and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.

The US President was able to draw on his long personal history with Chinese President Xi Jinping to offer insights into how the regional challenges must be dealt with. He gave an assessment that China faces “internal and external difficulties” that will shape its actions. These include a slowing domestic economy and joint enterprise with Russia in its ill-considered and illegal war on Ukraine. Mr Biden’s advice to “trust but verify” what the Chinese Communist Party says is sound. So too is the context in which Mr Biden places Chinese attitudes towards Australia and its relationship with the US.

It is clear that the AUKUS security pact between the US, UK and Australia has rattled Beijing. As has the reanimation of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) grouping of the US, India, Japan and Australia. Mr Biden said Mr Xi had asked if AUKUS was trying to surround China. Mr Biden said he responded that AUKUS was conceived to make sure that sea lanes remain open and Mr Xi was not able to change the rules of the road in terms of what constitutes international airspace and water space, et cetera. Likewise, the Quad was there to maintain stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indian Ocean. Mr Biden said the goal was to increase the prospects for long-term peace.

Mr Albanese was able to strike the right note in his public comments on a trip that has been largely overshadowed by events in the Middle East. He said that at the heart of our alliance, the enduring values our people hold in common are faith in freedom and democracy, a belief in opportunity and a determination to build a more prosperous and more peaceful world.

“Those values are timeless, and they have never mattered more than right now,” Mr Albanese said. “In today’s uncertain world, the alliance between Australia and the United States, and the way that we stand steadfast against aggression, whether it be Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine or whether it be Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel, is something that can be relied upon for us to stand up for our common values.”

Niceties aside, the meat on the table in Mr Albanese’s Washington trip was directed towards preparing for more uncertain times ahead. Hard work is still required to get the AUKUS deal across the line with US politicians who believe it will detract from rather than add to US security. Australia has turned to Microsoft to help reinforce our cyber defences against attack from hostile actors, including from China and Russia. We are joining with the US to build alternative supplies of strategic metals and minerals, over which China has a virtual monopoly on world supply.

We are extending our partnership to include space at a time when this is becoming a new frontier for conflict. And we are boosting our joint outreach to Pacific nations that are also being wooed by China. We are working together on a new funding program for the Pacific for climate-related finance. But we will also build communications infrastructure that cannot be compromised by our strategic competitors.

Of all the statements made by Mr Biden on Mr Albanese’s trip, the most welcome for Australia were those made in response to questions from The Australian’s chief political correspondent, Geoff Chambers, about China’s re-engagement with Australia. Mr Biden said that when asked by Mr Xi why he was working so hard with Australia, he replied: “We’re a Pacific nation. He looked at me and I said ‘Yeah, we’re a Pacific nation, the United States; we are and we’re going to stay that way’.”

Mr Albanese must now be prepared to convey the strength of our US relationship directly to Beijing. Mr Albanese’s planned meeting with Mr Xi in early November is a good opportunity for this to happen. As John Lee writes on Friday, actions not words are important. And the US is concerned that the Albanese government has overcompensated for the tough approach of the Morrison government that won Australia respect and support around the world. Lee says the current government’s preference is to frame Australian policy as supporting the existing rules-based order, as Mr Albanese did in Washington, rather than choosing a side in the global competition between the US-led coalition on the one hand and China on the other.

Lifting World Trade Organisation claims against Beijing in favour of bilateral talks may have restarted trade for barley and wine producers but it also left other countries who joined the WTO action out in the cold. Mr Albanese has talked the right talk in Washington. It is now time for him to demonstrate he means it in Beijing.